Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

Mercantile Bank Co. (NASDAQ:MBWM)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $43.46, but opened at $46.80. Mercantile Bank shares last traded at $44.71, with a volume of 4,132 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Mercantile Bank from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th.

Mercantile Bank Trading Down 1.4 %

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $47.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $45.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $706.37 million, a P/E ratio of 8.79 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.

Mercantile Bank (NASDAQ:MBWM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18 by $0.04. Mercantile Bank had a return on equity of 14.59% and a net margin of 22.77%. The business had revenue of $93.08 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $56.83 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.30 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Mercantile Bank Co. will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Mercantile Bank

In related news, Director Robert B. Kaminski sold 5,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.75, for a total transaction of $300,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,810 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,025,167.50. This trade represents a 22.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 10,300 shares of company stock worth $521,218. 3.08% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Mercantile Bank in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,646,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Mercantile Bank by 35.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 82,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,601,000 after purchasing an additional 21,411 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Mercantile Bank by 3.7% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,611 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $376,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Mercantile Bank by 12.9% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 10,123 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $439,000 after purchasing an additional 1,154 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its position in Mercantile Bank by 99.2% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 32,981 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,441,000 after acquiring an additional 16,423 shares during the last quarter. 58.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mercantile Bank Company Profile

Mercantile Bank Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Mercantile Bank of Michigan that provides commercial and retail banking services to small- to medium-sized businesses and individuals in the United States. It accepts various deposit products, including checking, savings, and term certificate accounts; time deposits; and certificates of deposit.